£445m investment in Welsh railways criticised over 10 year timeframe
The Chancellor’s confirmation of £445m in additional funding for Welsh railway projects has attracted a backlash after it was revealed the cash will be paid out over 10 years.
Rachel Reeves revealed additional funding for new stations and upgrading existing lines across north and south Wales during the spending review on Wednesday.
It follows the UK Labour Government’s acknowledgement of years of underinvestment in Welsh rail in January.
However, opposition politicians have criticised the 10-year timeline for the funding, with the Liberal Democrats saying it showed Labour’s “contempt” for Wales.
‘Failed’
Speaking in the House of Commons, Ms Reeves said: “For 14 years the Conservatives failed the people of Wales. Those days are over.
“Following representations from my Right Honourable Friend the Welsh Secretary, the First Minister for Wales and Welsh Labour MPs, I am pleased to announce today £445m for railways in Wales over 10 years, including new funding for Padeswood Sidings and Cardiff West Junction.
“That is the difference made by two Labour Governments working together to undo a generation of underfunding and neglect.”
Liz Saville Roberts, Plaid Cymru’s Westminster leader, said the funding would be meaningful only if it matches what Wales has lost from the High Speed Rail 2 (HS2) project.
HS2 has been highly controversial in Wales, with Welsh Labour and opposition groups saying the country was missing out on funding from the scheme.
They argue that because it was designated an “England and Wales project”, Wales lost out on money it would have received through the Barnett formula.
Plaid argues this has cost Wales £3.9 billion in funding, while Welsh Labour has suggested figures in the hundreds of millions.
None of the track for HS2 is in Wales.
‘Fig leaf’
Ms Saville Roberts said: “The announcement of £44.5 million a year for Welsh rail over the next decade is Labour’s flimsy fig leaf to excuse the multibillion-pound, multi-decade scandal that is the Welsh rail injustice.
“Today’s funding is only meaningful if it matches what Wales will continue to lose from HS2 and all other English rail projects in the future.
“Labour hopes a few token projects will distract from deep cuts to vital services that hit the most vulnerable hardest, all while shifting the goalposts on Welsh funding. The unfair Barnett formula remains open to manipulation.”
Welsh Liberal Democrat Westminster spokesperson David Chadwick said: “Labour’s contempt for Wales just gets worse and worse.
“The indefensible decision to spread this measly amount of rail funding over 10 years not only robs Wales of what it is owed for past projects, but also guarantees that we will continue to fall behind in infrastructure spending, as major transport projects in England get the green light.
“Labour clearly has no interest in growing the Welsh economy or giving us the tools we need to thrive and attract investment into our country.”
‘Insult’
Darren Millar, leader of the Welsh Conservatives, branded the announcement an “insult to the people of Wales”.
He said: “The previous UK Conservative Government invested over £1bn in rail infrastructure between 2014 and 2024 and promised over £1bn more to deliver the electrification in North Wales. Shameful.”
A spokesman for Reform UK argued the funding “falls far short” of what Wales is owed.
He said: “After the financial disaster of HS2, a project that delivered nothing for the people of Wales, this gesture is little more than a token.
“It does not come close to addressing the decades of underinvestment our communities have endured.”
The spending review also sets out how public services will be funded over the coming years.
The UK Government said Wales would receive an additional £1.6 billion each year on average, which the Treasury said was the “largest real-terms settlements since devolution began”.
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Labour ministers speak with forked tongue, morning till night…
So Wales gets £450 Million over TEN YEARS £45 Million each year we have been Robbed again areas of England getting BILLIONS and you expect us Welsh to be grateful where is our £4.5 Billion gone to some bleeding English region get us out of the U K for gods sake
At 2019 prices HS2 is estimated to cost some £61bn which must be about £75bn at today’s prices and the proposed Oxford to Cambridge rail link is estimated to cost £6bn, i.e., £81bn for in total. Wales gets a measly £0.445bn over 10 years! This means that to improve Wales’ railways it gets a pitiful 0.55% of what England gets over, probably, a shorter time period. These figures clearly display blatant double standards showing that the UK Labour Government’s policy towards Wales is to be a mean as possible. Electors will hopefully remember this appalling treatment at next year’s Senedd… Read more »
Mark Barry “the godfather of the Metro” argued recently in his blog that as a minimum you needed £4Bn in funding over 15 years, £445M does not do the job. https://swalesmetroprof.blog/2025/06/04/the-csr-wales-rail-investment/
£45m per year will get gobbled up quite quickly I imagine.
Cardiff Parkway Station has been costed at £120m, but as the article below states that is pre-Covid estimate, so estimated cost now is likely well up on this.
https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/cardiff-parkway-project-would-give-29948625
There are 5 stations propsed for the South-East Wales region as per article:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c14kdvzdjlgo
…and I don’t think that the £445m will cut it – so, Welsh Gov likely needing to step in ?
The Welsh network needs lots of faster and longer trains; this will come from new trains and line-speed improvements.
What is the benefit of electrifying North Wales coast? Population is low and the free trade route of Holyhead to Dublin was cancelled years ago.
Wales needs more well-paid jobs created near train stations; not high speed lines to London.
Who in Senedd is working with London based organisations to move staff to Wales? Andy Street convinced HSBC to move its’ UK HQ to Birmingham and then other financial service based organisations followed.
This is truly pathetic from Anti-Wales UK Labour. And shame our lame donkey FM Eluned Morgan and the spineless Welsh Government for not having the backbone to fight for our national interests. And special criticism goes to all those complicit self-serving trough dwellers, our Wales Labour MPs. What’s the point having them at Westminster when they act against our own interests? You all make me bloody sick. Sellouts the lot of you! Compare like with like shall we. Labour Chancellor Rachel Reeves stands up with a fixed grin on her smug face and announces a poultry £455 million for Wales… Read more »
They treat us with utter contempt and disdain, throwing us crumbs to placate and shut us up. They behave like they’re doing us a favour whilst committing another 15 Billion to England.
The next election is generational for Wales, the future of our country is at stake.
This is like labour in London spitting in our face and laughing, and all the while, Labour MPs elected to represent the voters of Cymru sit in the house of commons, nodding and agreeing with the party, as they sell us down the river. No money to repair UK Gov created dangerous coal tips, no money for infrastructure, and all they do is tell us how well off we are having Labour in London and the Senedd, while doing nothing for the people who put them there.
£45 million a year,
Barmouth Bridge’s recent work cost £30 million,
Another joke from that faulty adding machine…